Is the AFL really that much of a problem for the NRL?
It seems like this is the only topic being discussed at NRL headquarters since the start of the finals series.
First, there was the utter fiasco leading into Week 1, where the NRL decided a precinct built for the Olympics couldn't handle a Canterbury Bulldogs and Greater Western Sydney Giants game at the same time.
The Giants, by the way, got less than 20,000 people to their home AFL semi-final, where they fell short against the Brisbane Lions.
That decision left the Canterbury Bulldogs to host the Manly Sea Eagles in front of a raucous Sunday afternoon crowd at Homebush 48 hours after their semi-final opposition - who turned out to be the Sydney Roosters after their loss to the Penrith Panthers - had played on Friday night.
And yes, the minor premiers normally open the finals, but that wasn't possible either given Melbourne were playing the Cronulla Sharks, who played on the final day of the season and would have gone into the finals off a five-day turnaround, something the NRL has never, and never should force a team to do.
The other reason for the Canterbury-Manly game to be played on Sunday that was reportedly given was the heat in Townsville, but seriously?
The forecast when they set the fixtures was for a pleasant 26 degrees in Townsville in the peak of the day, with the temperature dropping throughout the game, and the sun setting at halftime, so that one doesn't pass the pub test.
In all honesty, the Sea Eagles may go over the top of the Roosters this weekend given the enormous injury issues facing the tri-colours, but that doesn't change the fact they'll be doing it off 48 hours less rest.
Not only that, but if reports are to be believed, they'll then be in for another six-day turnaround, with the NRL to switch the order of the preliminary finals.
Typically, whichever semi-final teams play on Saturday night will then back up and play the following Saturday in a preliminary final. It doesn't matter so much for the teams who have had the week off which order they play given everyone gets at least a full week before the Sunday grand final.
But this year, the Storm are due to be hosting that preliminary final on AFL grand final day. That isn't going to fly with anybody, so instead the NRL are likely - per reports - to play the Storm's grand final qualifier on Friday, giving the winner of the Roosters and Sea Eagles just six days leading into that match.
On the other hand, the Penrith Panthers have less of an advantage in their own game, with the winners of Friday night's semi-final between the Cronulla Sharks and North Queensland Cowboys at Moore Park to get an eight-day turnaround.
And don't get us started on the venue fiasco in the lead up to that contest either.
Let's put it this way: The AFL couldn't give less of a care about the NRL's finals schedule, and yet, the powers that be in NRL land have made multiple shifts to their own schedule to avoid clashes with Aussie Rules, at the cost of integrity in their own finals series, which above all else should be the number one priority.
I'm not silly - money dominates the world. I get it.
But moving the Week 1 elimination final was always going to create the issue of either destroying integrity for preliminary finals weekend, or having the Storm go up against the AFL grand final.
They have picked the potentially easy way out, because you'll get plenty of carry on from fans about "oh, well, those teams should have just finished higher on the table."
But that's not the point, or the answer.
The answer really should be that at this point of the year, it doesn't matter where you finished on the table. No team should be going into the penultimate weekend of the season off a six-day turnaround, to come up against a team who have had a week off.
It's simply not good enough.
It borders on stupidity that the NRL don't believe their own finals series rates well enough to beat the AFL in a city they dominate, to then put the integrity of the competition in jeopardy in more than one spot.
That's the bottom line, whether the NRL want to believe it or not.
